Georgina Naidu

Georgina Naidu is an Australian actress, stage writer and university lecturer from Melbourne.

Early life and education

Georgina Naidu is from Melbourne and has Anglo-Indian ancestry. She said that her family knew she wanted to act following an impromptu dance piece at the age of three.

Naidu took part in amateur acting from 1984 until 1991 with the St Martin's Youth Theatre in South Yarra, Victoria. In 1991 she trained at Prahran College of Performing Arts. She attended the Victorian College of the Arts and graduated in 1994.

She later studied law at La Trobe University.

Acting career

When Naidu first started attending auditions, she was shocked because she felt that casting directors were pigeonholing her because of her ethnicity. After her first year of auditioning she became passionate about trying to change things.

Screen

In 1990 she played an extra in the Paul Cox film '' Golden Braid''.

Her television career began with small roles in the children's shows '' The Gift'' and '' Lift Off''. Then came a guest role in the Australian drama series '' G.P.'' She gained a supporting role in the 1998 film ''Dead Letter Office'' as the office worker Mary. She also had guest roles in the late 1990s in the films '' Road to Nhill'' and ''Mallboy'', and in the television series ''Blue Heelers''.

In 1998, Naidu secured one of her most prominent television roles, playing Phrani Gupta in the ABC TV drama '' SeaChange''. The role made her a favourite with viewers. Naidu liked the role because Phrani is not a clichéd Indian woman. At the time Australian actors organised a strike over pay disputes, and her '' SeaChange'' co-star Kevin Harrington claimed that Naidu had been underpaid by those in charge of the programme.

Following ''SeaChange'', Naidu secured guest roles in ''Blue Heelers'', '' Stingers'', ''Guinevere Jones'', and ''Something in the Air''.

She continued to pursue on-camera work, taking a role in legal and medical drama '' MDA'' and acting the short film ''Tackle''. She secured guest roles on further Australian television series including '' Tripping Over'', '' Satisfaction'', ''City Homicide'', ''Mr & Mrs Murder'', '' The Time of Our Lives'', ''Winners & Losers'', and '' The Beautiful Lie''. She also played Paula in the 2009 film '' The Boys Are Back''.

In 2011, she appeared in the ABC1 drama ''At Home With Julia'' as Georgina. The show's cast won a 2012 Equity Ensemble Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Television Comedy Series".

In 2016, Naidu guest starred in ''Offspring'', '' Wentworth'', and ''Please Like Me''. That year in August it was announced that Naidu had secured the main role of Helena Chatterjee in '' Newton's Law'' and had begun filming. The series, which debuted on 9 February 2017 on the ABC network, was created by Deb Cox, who also created ''SeaChange''.

In 2017 she made a guest appearance in the season finale of ''Rosehaven'', playing Jocelyn. She had a part portraying a university lecturer in the film ''Ali's Wedding'', and secured the supporting role of Toni Chadha in the 2018 Network Ten drama series '' Playing for Keeps''. She then made a guest appearance in an episode of Network Ten's ''How to Stay Married''.

In 2019, Naidu reprised her role as Phrani Gupta for a new series of ''SeaChange''. In 2021 Naidu played Alison Chen in ABC drama series ''Harrow'', Alice Pike in ABC comedy '' Fisk'', and Prisha Kapoor in the Netflix mini-series ''Clickbait''. She then took on the role of school teacher Mrs Allen in Paramount+ comedy drama ''Spreadsheet''. In 2022, she appeared as Barb in SBS drama, ''A Beginner's Guide to Grief''.

Theatre

Naidu appeared in six theatrical productions during 2003 and 2004. She then played various roles in the Belvoir production of ''Run Rabbit Run'', at the Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney.

Naidu also writes for theatre. On 20 September 2005, her autobiographical play ''Yellowfeather'' opened at the Sydney Opera House. It was delivered as a one-woman show and featured Naidu documenting her life with a comedic tone. The full stage production toured around Australia and then internationally. The following year she appeared in Gorkem Acaroglu's live stage documentary ''The Habib Show''.

In 2009, she also returned to the stage for The Melbourne Town Players production of ''Attract/Repel''. in 2013 she joined the touring production of ''Ganesh Versus The Third Reich''.

In 2017, she took another main theatre role in Lally Katz's production ''Minnie & Liraz''.

Other activities

Naidu also works as a university lecturer and legal researcher.

She is a member of the Main Stage Green Room Panel, which helps recognise talent in theatre productions, and is also a member of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance Equity Diversity Committee.

In December 2023 Naidu was appointed executive director of Western Edge, a not-for-profit arts organisation that provides opportunities for young people in the western suburbs of Melbourne to develop their talents.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

References

External links

*
Georgina Naidu
on AusStage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naidu, Georgina
Living people
20th-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian actresses
Australian television actresses
Year of birth missing (living people)
Actresses from Melbourne
Australian lecturers